


Revelation

by OrionRedde, Shyrstyne



Series: Cometverse [41]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Near Death Experiences, Serious Injuries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2020-03-29 10:11:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19017808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrionRedde/pseuds/OrionRedde, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shyrstyne/pseuds/Shyrstyne
Summary: Aqua comes to terms with Vanitas and their history.





	1. Revelation

**Author's Note:**

> before we begin, there *has* been a small time skip from anything in Settling or Second Chances. I'm being purposefully vague on exactly how long the skip is (plausible deniability reasons) but there is one. That time was spent mostly in the status quo; ventus and vanitas slowly getting used to each other, terra actively avoiding vanitas, and aqua and vanitas having the good graces to keeping their hostility to Frosty Silences rather than anything overt.

Vanitas is out exploring.

It’s not something he does often, he doesn’t get gripped with the same levels of wanderlust that Sora and his group do, or even Roxas and Xion. He would rather hang around Twilight Town and help out around the bar than try to find new worlds and make new friends for the most part.

But every now and again the town gets stifling. He feels the need to move, to go, and he leaves for a few days. He avoids the worlds Sora, Riku, and Kairi would gravitate to; teeming with life, and people and personality. He finds the forgotten rocks floating between, barely big enough to call worlds. He finds them barren and lifeless, until he digs deeper into them, finding tiny colonies of fluorescent mosses, or a cave system full of brightly glittering jewels and stalactites.

Sometimes he brings you souvenirs.

“There’s this place out past the Pridelands. It’s pretty big but really easy to miss, since there isn’t anything else out this way. There’s actually some plants here too, I’ll send you pictures later.” He’s telling you about his latest find. He likes finding new things, you think, the ones no one else would think to look for. “The magic here is weird though, kinda saps it. I don’t think I’ll stay very long.”

“You better not.” You say, concern getting the better of you. “Teleporting takes mana too, I don’t want you stranded if you run out.”

“What, you wouldn’t come get me?” He teases.

“Of course we would you dingus. Roxas and Xion are here by the way. We’re playing board games tonight I think. Or at least I saw Lea carting out all the pieces to Clue.” Sometimes board games got amalgamated into strange, twisted conglomerates of their former selves around here, so it was hard to say.

Vanitas chuckles lowly.

“Maybe I’ll catch them. This’ll probably be my last stop, I’m uh. Starting to miss home, a bit.” He sounds a little embarrassed to admit it, but he doesn’t shy away from saying the words. You smile.

“We miss you too. Come home safe.”

“Yeah yeah, I promise.” He grins cockily at you and the connection cuts off.

You grin stupidly, clutching the phone to your chest. He’s come so far from the skittish, angry boy who’d sat outside your bar, starving and cold.

You give yourself a shake, you had someone else you needed to call. Who was it…. oh right, Aqua. The tone dials twice before she picks up.

“Hey blueberry,” you smile.

“Comet! What do you need?” She asks brightly.

“Not much, just checking in, I know you said you weren’t sure if you were gonna be able to make brunch tomorrow. Any updates on that?”

She huffs a sigh. “Maybe? Terra has me hunting down this ingredient for some recipe he wants to try and I think I’m on the right world but… well I can’t seem to find it.”

“Where are you?”

“Halloween Town.”

“Oh oof.” You wince in sympathy. Halloween Town was a nice place, but finding ingredients there could only be a task for the brave. This recipe thing had been an ongoing thing for a while now, if they were still trying to hunt down ingredients it couldn’t be going well.

“It’s fine. If I can’t find it tonight I won’t worry about it. I’ll try my best to be there tomorrow though, don’t worry.” She gives you a smile. You return with a thumbs up and a grin.

“Sounds great. See you Aqua.” And then you close the connection. A shout from the living room distracts you, and as you poke your head in you see three weres playing a game on the tv. And Roxas had apparently just lost badly judging by how he’s shoving at Lea’s shoulder. You shake your head with a grin, heading into the kitchen to check on the slow cooker. Tonight will be fun, you think. Most of the family home, the possibility of Vanitas even making it in time, good food, and just.. enjoying each other’s company.

Vanitas doesn’t make it home in time for dinner, but he sends you a few texts, one just containing a picture of a bunch of shiny rocks shaped like a dick. You just barely avoid snorting soup out of your nose, which of course meant you had to send the damn thing to Lea and do the same thing to him.

He nearly chokes on a piece of chicken, and you almost feel bad.

Almost.

Roxas and Xion steal Lea’s phone at some point, and it begins a merry game of keep away that eventually turns into a much more simple game of tussling. Lea manages to pin Roxas down and Xion has leapt onto his back, nipping at one ear in full panther form. He starts to try and shake them off when your phone buzzes and your distracted from their shenanigans.

 _‘Gonna need that ride.’_ Says the text from Vanitas. A moment later a second text comes in; _‘bring potions.’_

 _‘How bad?’_ You immediately text back. Xion gives a light yip as they land wrong, causing Roxas to instantly drop his play and rush over to them. They bat him away with annoyance, growling out a low “I’m fine, Roxas, seriously!”

 _‘Not as bad as last time. Still walking, out of mana, can’t teleport out.’_ Is Vanitas’ return text. Frustratingly evasive, but he’d promised to be honest with you after the last incident, where he’d come home covered in bruises and barely healed cuts after an altercation with the local wildlife had sent him over a cliff face without armour. You would still worry, but there was no need for a full red alert yet.

 _‘Aqua’s closest.’_ You text him back, and then immediately start dialling Aqua.

 _‘Ugh._ ’ Is the response text before you can even finish putting in the number. You give a rueful smile. They were both just going to have to suck it up.

“Hey Aqua, I need a favour…..”  


\------  


Aqua does _not_ want to do this.

The world is exactly where Comet said it would be, barely on the edges of the realm of light, far past the wild jungles of the Pridelands. She doesn’t know exactly where he is though, so when a quick pass over doesn’t reveal him, she brings the ship in to land and resolves she’ll have to find him the hard way. He’s lucky she’d been using an actual ship today and not just her keyblade glider, wanting to be able to cart supplies about. Her glider was assuredly _not_ built for two people; she could make it work in a pinch, but it wouldn’t be a process either of them would enjoy.

The world is dark and rocky, reminding her a little too much of the Realm of Darkness. Some plants cling to life on the undersides of some stony craigs, and the sky is toned a deep purple instead of black, but the place still makes her shiver.

 _‘Of course he would be attracted to a place like this.’_ The words come to her, unbidden. She shakes her head, slightly ashamed of the thought but unwilling to let go of the dark place it lives in. She’s promised Ventus and Comet to work on it, and she has! But there are a lot of ghosts there, and she can’t quite seem to exorcise them all.

The ambient magic here is strange too, like it’s draining her mana away. She has a considerable amount of it, but she hadn’t thought to bring any ethers on what should have been a simple shopping trip. She tells herself she’ll make this fast, as she sets out among the outcroppings, almost wishing she hadn’t been stubborn and gotten his number. She still could, she supposes, she could call Comet and..

She sees the heartless gather at the edges of her vision and sighs. Of course there are heartless here.

In numbers apparently. She tries to use her magic sparingly, but when the heartless begin to pile up she has no choice but to lean on her magical strength. She fights her way through, and it takes far longer than she really would have liked, but eventually she sees a familiar head of dark hair resting against an outcropping. He looks up her, a sneer starts to form on his face before reverting to neutral. She’s sure hers is no better, so she lets it go.

“Comet sent me to pick you up.” She says instead. He sighs, and goes to stand.

“I figured.” He says. He’s got a bruise flowering across his cheek, making old scars stand out starkly against his jawline, and he’s walking with a slight limp.

“Hang on.” She casts cure. The bruise lessens and his lean goes back towards center. It doesn’t heal him completely before the spell sputters and dies. That’s it for magic here, she supposes. Between fighting her way through the hoard and whatever aura this place has, her mana is all but gone.

“.... thanks.” He says. It comes through his teeth as though against his will.

“No problem.” She mutters back. It’s very awkward. “Tell Comet we’re on our way back would you?” She turns to head back towards the ship. It was going to be a long trek, she’d gone pretty far searching for Vanitas.

“Can’t.” There’s a scowl on his face. “Battery died while I was _waiting_.”

“Fine.” She says, pulling out her own phone and ignoring his jab. She sends off a quick text assuring them Vanitas is fine and is debating texting Terra while she’s at it when Vanitas gives a shout.

The heartless are back, swarming together. They move quickly, dashing between the rocks and slamming into both of them with force. They’re thrown to the ground and scramble to get up. The swarm circles around them, and it’s quickly joined by ogres, defenders, and wyverns, as well as a number of other types.

They were two capable keyblade wielders, but with Vanitas exhausted and both of them out of mana, it’s a harder battle than either of them would have liked. They’re not used to fighting with each other as allies, and frequently have to pull back as they find themselves nearly crossing blades without meaning to. She knows they should stick together, but they both end up moving away from each other as it becomes obvious that they are as much a danger to each other as they are to the heartless in battle like this.

It actually works fine, at first. The army of heartless splits to follow each of them, leaving more manageable numbers for the both of them to deal with. It’s still long, and difficult, but after a decade of fighting heartless alone, Aqua is more than capable of doing it again.

Even if she doesn’t want to. Even if it makes something hollow in her chest and mind writhe wildly.

She’s just taken out one of the swarms when she hears Vanitas cry out.

He’s stumbled, and taking advantage of his moment of weakness, the heartless overwhelm him. He breaks free, swinging wildly as his edges fuzz like he’s trying to teleport but can’t, in doing so turns his back to a Ogre, who takes its blade and brings it in a solid blow across Vanitas’ back.

 

Half a universe away, Sora sits bolt upright in bed, clutching his chest as Kairi gasps and Riku holds them both.

Namine leaves a sudden, jarring line across the picture she was drawing.

Ventus tries to run out of the room, held back only by a confused Terra.

Roxas and Xion cry out in tandem, Lea pulling them close with worried questions.

  


He falls, and Aqua feels like it happens in slow motion.

She flings herself at the Ogre, throwing it away from his fallen body and descending upon it like a wraith. She stands over him, clubbing away the heartless that attempt to take advantage of his fallen form. Their numbers whittle downward, and eventually, they retreat.

Aqua drops to her knees, panting, pulling away the ripped fabric and pressing her hands to the wound. She calls on whatever magic reserves she might have had left for a cure, but there’s nothing to call on. He blinks up at her, gaze unfocused and movement sluggish.

“That was my favourite shirt.” His voice is whispy and it’s obvious the pain hasn’t hit him yet.

“Van- Vanitas. I’ll get you home, okay. Stay awake.” She commands. She tries to cast cure again. There’s barely a hint of green sparkle in the air.

“I’m dying.” He says, like it's a revelation. She knows he would know. He’s done it twice.

His face crumples.

“C.. Comet. Fuck. _Fuck_ , I don’t.. I don’t want to die this time. I don’t want to fade back into the dark.” She doesn’t want to think about what that means.

“You’re not going to die, I promise. You’re going to be _fine_ .” She stresses. She rips the ribbons at her hips, wrapping them around the ugly, bleeding wound in his side. He’s so small, even at his age. Stars, he’s just a kid. He’s just a _kid_.

A lost and broken cub, put back together at the hands of another.

And now lost and broken in an entirely different way.

“I broke it, Comet. I broke- tell them I’m sorry. I promised- I’m sorry I broke it.” He’s gasping, reaching one hand up towards her, begging her to tell Comet.

“No.” She says, hard. “No I won’t, you’ll be there. Vanitas!” She shouts as his eyes shut and don’t open again. “Vanitas, wake up!”

His eyes remain closed, and his gasping breaths shallow.

She tries to cast cure again.

  
  
  


She wishes she’d tried harder to find him with the gummi ship. She wishes she’d been able to land closer. She wishes whatever magic blocking this place has didn’t affect her ability to summon her glider. She wishes she hadn’t found the crushed remnants of her phone after the battle. She wishes…

It doesn’t matter.

She’s in full lioness form now, the posture of it being more able to carry Vanitas on her back than her regular one, as well as affording a boost in strength that she much needs now that she has no magic.

It was perhaps an hour walk back to the ship, but carrying dead weight (no don’t think that _don’t think that)_ and occasionally being swarmed by hungry heartless sensing a meal, it might as well be days away.

She can’t let that happen. Vanitas doesn’t have days. She’s done her best with what physical healing she knows, but she doesn’t think he even has hours.

He’s clinging to life. Barely.

She trudges on as fast as she can.

“Comet doesn’t understand why we can’t get along.” She says. Anything to fill the silence. Cover the ragged breathing in her ears. It’s only the weight on her back keeping her from thinking she’s back lost in the Darkness all over again.

“They think they do, but I see their disappointment every time it comes up. You mean something different to them.” She continues.

“They’ve been told our history, but it’s not the same as living it. You hurt us. You hurt _Ven_.”

She climbs over a shale covered ridge, trying to shortcut wherever she can and hoping she doesn’t get lost.

“I can’t forgive you for that.”

They’re attacked, and Aqua has to put him down to drive the heartless away. The blood has seeped through his makeshift bindings already. Moving him so much can’t be helping him, but there’s no choice. She picks him up again.

“Sora and Ven tried to save you, but you couldn’t- You refused to be anything other than the darkness you were born in. And I thought.. _Good_. Leave us alone. You’ve done enough.”

She adjusts her grip.

“But for Comet… for Comet you changed. You stopped trying to hurt us. I couldn’t understand it at first. What could they have possibly done to change you that even Ven couldn’t?”

Her voice is wry. The words pour out of her freely. She can’t stand the silence.

“And it turned out it was nothing. They just. Took you in. They had no idea what you’d done and they didn’t care. You’d never tried to kill them, so you were just a lost, starving kid with nothing left to lose.”

“And if all that is true…”

Her foot slips on a rock. She scrapes her knees and shins, dragging dark cuts down fur and skin already tacky with blood, but doesn’t drop Vanitas. She’s so tired. She tries to cast cure again.

“If all that is true then it means I was wrong. That you were just a kid who’d been taken into an awful place in life and left there. And what does that make me?”

She’s crying now, leaving wet marks down the fur of her cheeks.

“Me? Who watched someone _else_ make a single attempt to help you, and then left you there?”  
  
Where is the ship? She hears Vanitas’ breath stutter, and it makes her heart clench. _Where is it?!_

“Maybe I’m not a good person, Vanitas. Maybe I just can’t let go because I don’t want to look at what that makes me.”  
  
It has to be close. She remembers skidding down this hill.

“But I won’t let you die out here.”  
  
She steps onto the rock, scrabbling for purchase with her free hand, hoping against hope the heartless didn’t choose this time to come at them. Vanitas’ breathing is barely audible against her ear, a gasping wheeze that sounds more like a pipe gurgle than a breath.

“I won’t. Because I _was_ wrong. Because everyone can tell you’ve changed. Because it would break Comets heart if you didn’t come home. It’d break _Ven’s_.”

The lip of the hill is tantalizingly close.

She tries to cast cure again.

“Please, Vanitas. I don’t know if we can be friends, I don’t know if we can get that far, but please. Hold on. Just.. Just hold on.”

She crests the hill.

And there’s the ship.

She nearly bursts into tears all over again.

 

\----

 

Ventus paces the room.

Back. And forth.

Back. And forth.

Terra sits in a nearby chair, hands steepled in front of his mouth, eyes closed and stress lines creasing his forehead.

Aqua enters the room, posture slumped and bandages wrapped around her legs. She looks exhausted.

“Aqua-“ Terra stands, but Ven is faster, grasping her wrists and looking up at her with a pleading expression.

“Is Vanitas gonna be okay? How is he?”

She tries to give him a comforting smile.

“They’re still working, but Merlin and the others seem confident he’ll pull through.”

Her words don’t have as much effect as she’d hoped though, as he just looks towards the closed door, fidgeting with the edges of his sleeves in agitation. Terra puts a soft hand on her shoulder, and she leans into the touch gratefully.

“What about you? How are you doing?” He asks, and she makes a dismissive gesture.

“Just some scratches. I should redo the bindings, but I’m fine really.”

“No one took a look at you?” He says, a hint of thunder entering his voice. Aqua stiffens.

“They didn’t have time. They had a _dying cub_ to deal with.” Hard steel backs her tone, and Ventus flinches as Terra bows his head shamefaced.

“Sorry.” He murmurs. “Can I help redo them, at least?”

She nods, and leans in to him heavily. He wraps his arms around her in a tight hug, sensing her exhaustion and willing himself to be the steady rock he was named for for her. He leads her to a semi-secluded corner, and Ven returns to pacing with only slightly less agitation then before.

He’s on his fifteenth pass of the room when he hears quiet sobs, and he looks over to see Aqua bent double, spread across several chairs where Terra had been helping her rebandage her legs, sobbing into her knees. Terra hovers hesitantly, rubbing small circles in her back, glancing to Ven only briefly.

“I was wrong.” She sobs. “I was wrong.”

“We were all wrong.” Terra says. “It.. It was complicated. Or it felt complicated. You’re not the only one who’s messed up.”

“I should be better.” She says, anger at herself colouring her tone. “I’m supposed to be a Master, I should be _better_.”

“So was Master Eraqus.” Ven says quietly. And all three of them quiet at that. Aqua wipes away her tears with a rough sniffle.

“We’ve all messed up.” Terra repeats. “If- when Vanitas wakes up.. We’ll do better, in whatever way he wants us to.”

There’s a clamour from the hall, prompting all three of them to look up, and the doors swing open widely, revealing four figures coming in almost at a run. Comet spots them first, running up,  tears unabashedly running down their face. Lea and the twins are all in full were form, ears pinned and tails twitching tensely. Roxas and Xion try to move past, to get into the next room, but Lea manages to grab both and hold them steady despite desperate protests.

“Lea let go-!”

“He’s there, he’s there-!”

“Where’s Van?” Comet demands, and Aqua looks at the closed door beyond.

“There’s doctors still working.” She says. “No one’s allowed in yet.”

Comet’s face crumples, and though their body remains tense as a bow-string. Lea let’s go of the kids, confident they’ve understood they can’t go anywhere yet, and reaches for Comet. They clutch his hand, knuckles white. Roxas and Xion pace around them both, sniffing and nuzzling, wanting to help but with nothing really to be done. Agitation and worry colour their body language.

“Is he going to be okay? When can we see him?” Xion asks. Their voices wobbles between anger and tears. Roxas can’t do anything but growl, matching tears running down his face.

“I- I don’t know.” Aqua says regretfully. She feels like she failed them. Failed all of them. She should have been faster- more alert- or just cared more from the very beginning.

Lea leads Comet into a nearby seat, nuzzling their cheek in an attempt to comfort before standing to look at Aqua.

“Why don’t you tell us what happened.” He says. Ven has moved closer to the other kids, offering his own comfort, and the three all lean together, shuddering.

“We were out of magic, something about that place sapped it, I couldn’t even summon my glider..” She takes a deep breath. “We were swarmed, and a heartless got him from behind. I beat them off, but the damage was done. My ship was- it was too far away, and I had no magic or potions with me. I had to carry him back, at which point it was too late for both. I called the doctors as soon as I found another phone, and then I called you.”

She rattles it off, trying to be as factual as she can, but her voice still falters. Terra returns his attention to rolling the bandages around her legs.

Lea opens his mouth, but doesn’t get the chance to say anything as the doors swing open once more, and several figures tumble through.

“Where is he?!” Sora shouts, nearly bowling Roxas, Xion and Ventus over as they rush to greet him. They hug tightly, but Sora needs to know. Kairi, Riku, Naminé and Haru surround them. All of them look towards the adults, but Ven is the one who speaks.

“He’s hurt, there’s doctors still trying to make sure he’s okay. How- How did you know? Did someone call you?”

“We felt it.” Roxas mutters. Sora nods.

“Like when Naminé and Roxas and Xion changed.”

“We knew something was horribly wrong.” Naminé says, her hand wrapped tightly with Haru’s.

Ven looks pale.

“You.. felt it? Through me?”

Naminé shakes her head.

“No, he’s connected to us too. He always was. But he never lets his walls down, too afraid of the possibilities.” She casts her gaze down, chewing on her lip. “I wanted to let him join, on his own time, but..”

“Why would he be afraid? We’re his friends, we just want to help!” Sora protests, a distressed keen beneath his tone, and Kairi puts a consolatory hand on his arm.

“I know you do.” She says.

“But Vanitas has been through a lot, he needed time to build that trust, right?” Riku adds, glancing to Ven at the end. Ventus swallows hard, thinking of the only recently repaired bonds of their own connection. How tenuous and almost shy the connection had been at first.

No, of course Vanitas wouldn’t let them in right away, if he’d known the bonds were there at all. He was barely at the point of letting Ventus in, and for all their rough history they were still once two halves of the same person.

They all settle in after that, Aqua telling the story of what happened once more to Sora and the rest, and then a tense silence descends.

They wait.

Lea’s phone buzzes, and he picks it up.

“Isa’s on his way.” He says. “Took him a bit to find a ride, since we’d already taken the ship.”

“I’m not sorry, I wasn’t waiting.” Comet says, slightly muffled from where their face is pressed into Lea’s fur. He scritches their scalp lightly with his claws.

“Neither of us expected you to. He understands.”

The door cracks open, and Merlin steps out. Everyone is near instantly on their feet, even Aqua. Merlin raises his hands in warning when it looks like they might swarm him.

“Ah ah ah! A moment.” He says sternly. “I know you are all worried, so I shall keep this brief. Your young shadow has sustained serious injury, but I beleive with rest and time he shall make a full recovery.”

Comet’s knees go weak beneath them, leaning hard against Lea.

“Thank stars.” Aqua whispers.

“That said!” He interrupts. “He is asleep and shall remain so until I am confident our work will not be undone by him moving. You may see him, if you like, but I ask that you use your sensibility around him. Any disruption may undo everything at this juncture.”

There are solemn nods all around.

“So!” He claps his hands. “Who’s first?”

 

\----

 

The world is fuzzy, at first.

He’s in a bed.

He’s awake.

He’s alive?

He hadn’t expected that. He hadn’t even been sure Aqua would pass along his last request if he was being honest. But beggars couldn’t be choosers when you were dying.

Except he wasn’t dead. The room was quiet save for the quiet breathing of people, and he was lying in a bed with someone holding his hand.

He blinks his eyes open, and it takes more effort than it really should. The world feels distant and muggy, but he’s aware enough to recognise Comet gripping his hand with both of theirs tightly despite being asleep and half draped over the side of the bed from the chair. Everything is in tones of gold and white. The Land of Departure? He hears light snoring, and in one of the chairs is Lea, head tipped back and arms crossed. He distantly recognises there’s bags under his eyes. That doesn’t sound right; he’d been fine when Vanitas had left.

The curtains over the window are pulled, and he’s glad, because everything seems too bright.

His side hurts. His back hurts. Everything hurts. It’s muted behind a wall somehow, but he can still tell it’s there.

He still can’t quite believe he’s alive. Maybe he’s not. He squeezes Comet’s hand to check.

Their face scrunches, and then eyes blink slowly open before suddenly growing very wide with surprise. Tears start to fall near immediately after that, and he almost regrets waking them now.

“Woah hey, I uh. I’m fine.” He says. They grab his face with both hands, turning it to face them. They press an almost frantic kiss to his forehead. He feels the salt fall into his hair.

“You’re awake, oh stars you’re _okay_.” They repeat, over and over. They pull him in for a hug as best they can, trying not to move his injury, and he let’s them. He doesn’t quite get it at first, he’s fine now, obviously. Another exclamation from his other side is followed by another pair of arms wrapping themselves around them both. Woodsmoke and ozone fill his nose, and he can feel the faint trembling in both Lea and Comet’s limbs.

It all sort of hits him at once, and then he’s crying too.

He’d almost left them behind. His home, his family. Aqua had brought him home. He doesn’t know how to process that yet.

There’s the creak of a door opening, and he looks up to see Roxas and Xion bounding into the room, and at this range he can almost physically feel the sheer relief Roxas and Xion have knowing he’s awake and okay. They try to curl up on either side of him, though with the additional weight of a panther and a jaguar the small bed is quickly running out of room.

A silent, _“We’re here. We’re glad you are too.”_

The silent tears he’d been crying get worked up into outright bawling as his family holds him.

He’s here. He’s alive. His family cares about him.

The door opens again, Sora and Ven fighting to get through first, and he can see Naminé just behind clearly holding back relieved tears. Haru. Isa.

The sobs turn into a laugh as the sheer emotions overwhelm him, and he pulls them closer.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so even though neither of us are any kind of medical professional, we did do a little bit of research for this one. We won't really be getting into in the fic itself, but we wanted to have an idea of what we were working with. All hail google.
> 
> long story short, due to the fact that even with the magical limitations we have place, this is still a magical universe and there are still a number of extenuating circumstances. Vanitas now has a shiny new metal replacement rib, and his recovery is only gonna be 2-3 months for his other cracked ribs and some major back muscles that have been more or less shredded, rather than what would probably have been closer to six here on earth. (and when we say torn.. well i mean you all remember the size of those ogre swords, right?)


	2. Post-Op

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aerith is one of the best. She doesn't know who she's just worked on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay i won't lie to you guys, this was a *late* addition to the canon, and it changed rather significant portions of the next few fics because aerith wasn't supposed to meet the fam until Way Later. but we just couldn't pass this addition up because well. it's aerith. who else would you want on a team of healers?
> 
> we also wanted to show a bit more how comet is dealing with all this, which is to say, they're barely holding it together.

Aerith leans back, heaves a deep sigh, and reaches for a towel.

Merlin congratulates them and then leaves the room, likely to give the boy’s family the good news, leaving the aftercare and cleanup to the remaining team. For all Merlin was a scattered and absent minded person, he was frighteningly efficient at directing controlled chaos, which made him extremely useful in environments like this one. He became something of a tripping hazard once the chaos was done, however, and they had all learned to work with it.

There were a few machines scattered about, and Aerith goes about checking each after she’s cleaned herself off. One by one the others leave, their duties finished, until it’s just her doing the last checks.

She stops by the boy’s bed, running a gentle hand across the top of his head. She’s glad she’d been brought in to help, the wound the child had received had been touch and go for a bit, well past the time and normal limitations for healing magic. Past that point it was only physical remedies and people like her, with highly specialized and focused magics that could help- and even then they could only help so much.

Still though, the boy was strong, and had pulled through admirably. He looks.. Almost familiar somehow, she thinks. Like if Sora had gone through a punk phase like Leon had, years ago. She smiles a little at the thought, trying to imagine it, before sobering.

She doesn’t like thinking how easy it would be for Sora to have ended up under her care during his adventures. The older she gets, the more she regrets not taking more care with him.

She carefully readjusts the pillow under the boy’s head. He would likely be sleeping for a few days, and she didn’t want him to wake with a terrible crick in his neck. Poor boy, she thinks. She hopes he recovers quickly.

The door creaks open, and Aerith realises she’s taken a little too long, and the boy’s family is probably more than ready to see him.

“Oh! I’m sorry, I’ll be right out, I was just doing some final… checks….” She loses steam as she realises who she’s looking at. “Comet?”

“Aerith?” They look absolutely ravaged, strung out and exhausted, leaning hard against a tall werewolf that could only be the Lea she’s heard so much about. “I thought you were in Hollow- I mean, Radiant Garden.”

“I was, Merlin brought me specifically to help.” She watches Comet stumble over to the bedside, hovering over the child like they want to pull him into their arms, but too afraid to touch him. Lea moves away and returns shortly with a chair, which Comet sits in heavily. They reach out to clutch one of the boys hands tightly.

Aerith abandons any plans of leaving. She sits, or rather leans against, the arm of the chair and runs a hand across Comet’s head.

They sob, brokenly, clutching the boy’s hand in theirs.

“He’s going to be okay.” She soothes. “We did everything we could, it’s just going to take a little time.”

“Did you know?” Lea asks, rubbing small circles into Comet’s back. Comet just shudders between them, clearly not up to talking right now. Aerith shakes her head.

“I’m not sure I know now even. You must be Lea. I’m sorry we couldn’t meet under better circumstances.”

“You and me both.” He mutters. “Too bad the festival wasn’t a few months earlier.”

Aerith hums an agreement.

Comet chokes on another sob.

“He would’ve never met you- any of you. I kept putting it off, there was just so much else to do and I never thought- suddenly it had been so long-”

“Hey hey hey, shh.” Lea leans down, taking their face into his hands. “None of this is your fault. And he’ll be okay, he’ll still get to meet them later.”

“But what if-”

“You can’t dwell on the what-if’s.” Aerith says kindly, but with determination. “How often did you yourself tell us that, back in Traverse Town? We have to focus on the now first.”

Comet lets out a strangled half of a laugh.

“You know I was telling myself that as much as I was you guys, right? Never did work.”

“It worked a little.” Aerith says, putting a hand over where Comet’s are clasped over the limp one in the bed. “We kept going. The dark got a little lighter. It didn’t have to work miracles to help.”

Comet says nothing, sniffling softly.

“Can I take a guess that this is Vanitas?” She asks. Lea blinks.

“Oh right, you don’t know.” He says. Comet just nods.

“Yeah, yeah this is Van. This is my son.” Their lip wobbles dangerously once more.

Aerith feels the memories take on a whole new colour. It certainly isn’t the first time she’s had to work on a loved one, and likely won’t be the last.. But it is the first time she’s done it not knowing that fact in advance. Stars, he was essentially her nephew, wasn’t he? That boy who’s life had so very nearly flittered out under her hands.

She shakes her head, leans over to wrap Comet up in a hug.

“He’s going to be okay.” She says, softly, without even the slightest hint of doubt.

“I know. You are the best, after all.” Comet gives a wobbly smile. Lea huffs.

“Trust me, we would not be here if he wasn’t. There would be a major breakdown, and then Comet would be out for blood.”

“I would murder every heartless on that entire rock and then some, keyblade or no.” Comet agrees gruffly. Aerith let’s herself have a small laugh at that.

There’s the sound of a scuffle outside, prompting Aerith to look up. Lea glances towards the door, but doesn't move otherwise.

“What was that?” She asks, when it becomes apparent that Lea at least knows exactly what’s going on.

“They’re probably arguing over who gets to come in next.” He says. “We won on parental rights, but Ven made a strong case for other half rights, and Roxas and Xion are both arguing for sibling rights, which of course drew Sora in, and well.. This room will be very full later.”

“I’m not leaving.” Comet says. “They can all come in if they want, as long as they don’t disturb Van, but if anyone tries to move me right now it will not be pretty.”

“No one’s expecting you to.”

“We won’t do that.” Both Lea and Aerith chorus. They exchange a glance, and then a small smile.

“I already knew you were gonna want to stay.” Lea continues. “Me and Isa were making plans for trying to cover for things back home for you.”

“I don’t deserve you.” They say gratefully, leaning against him heavily, not quite a hug with their hands still on Vanitas’, but as close as they can get. Lea snorts.

“Pretty sure that’s the other way around. Don’t worry about it, we’ll keep everything running smooth for you.”

The sounds outside die down, and Aerith decides she doesn’t want to be in the middle of what’s coming. She wants to stay, stars it’s been years since she’s seen Comet outside a phone, but Van clearly has other family who wants to see him and she has other obligations to tend to.

Catching up will simply have to wait.

“I’ll call you later, okay?” She says, giving Comet a quick but sincere hug before standing. Comet blinks up at her.

“You’re leaving?”

“Yes.” She says regretfully. “I want to stay but-”

“No, no, it’s okay. I understand.” They say, but Aerith can see the sadness, combined with the stress and the guilt.. Stars but she wishes she could stay.

“Everything will be okay. And I’ll see you soon, with the whole family.” She says, smiling.

“Right. Of course.” Comet nods.

Aerith takes her leave, holds her composure out the back hallways and carefully steering around the worried menagerie outside Vanitas’ room so they wouldn’t see her. She makes her way down into the Entrance Hall, where Merlin waits to transport her home. The others are already long gone.

“Well, my dear?” He asks. Her traitorous lip wobbles.

“Let’s go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO for clarity; comet likes to keep their calls private, so the Garden Fam hasn't seen glimpses of the kids, and between comet and lea, lea is the one who takes enough pictures for the both of them, so comet never really thinks to send pics of their new fam to the old one. there was also some minor miscommunication going on that we'll delve into later.
> 
> Aerith HAS seen lea before, mostly as an aside when he's ambushed comet while they were on the phone.. but never in wolf form. she did hear about the whole wolf thing though, and is smart enough to put 2 and 2 together.


	3. a good host

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terra isn't sure about Vanitas being in his home

“Comet, I’ll be  _ fine, _ ” Vanitas huffs, giving you an exasperated look. “You can’t put this off for much longer.”   
  “Yes I can,” you grump, crossing your arms. “It’s just a couple deliveries.”

  “You’ve been gone for almost a week,” Vanitas points out, surprisingly patiently. “You  _ know  _ that you’re gonna start paying fines if you leave the deliveries there for more than a week.”

  “But…” you protest weakly.

  “Lea already said you had to be the one to sign off for them.”

  “It’s okay, Untie!” Ventus chirps from the other side of Vanitas’ bed. “I’ll keep him in line!”

  “Okay, we  _ both  _ know you start most of the shit we get into,” Vanitas protests. “But illegal activities aside, I’ll be fine, Ventus won’t let me set fire to the surrounding woods-”   
  “As if you can run that far-”   
  “- _ and  _ I  _ promise  _ I’ll stay either in bed or in a chair or couch for the rest of the day. Cross my heart.” Vanitas did the necessary movements.

  You heave a huge sigh, but nod reluctantly. 

  “Alright,” you concede. “I’ll go. But  _ please  _ call me if you need me, okay?”

  “Yeah, yeah _ ”  _ Vanitas sasses. “You want me to text you every hour, too?”

  “Don’t tempt me, brat,” you laugh, ruffling his hair. “I’ll be back later tonight, probably. Might as well get as many errands done as possible while I’m out.”

  “So you can have the rest of the week to hover like the bird you are.”

  “You’re darn right I will,” you snort. “See ya, kiddos.”

  “Bye, R-...  Comet.”

  “Bye, Untie!”

  Hopefully, your errands won’t take too long.

 

  Terra feels… unsettled. 

  There’s a former enemy in his home. But… Vanitas is a  _ cub.  _ A  _ seriously hurt cub  _ who  _ didn’t expect to be saved.  _ Aqua, choking on her tears, had told him what happened on that godforsaken planet. How Vanitas had…

  Terra shakes his head, throwing off the depressing thoughts. He checks on the shredded pork in the oven - almost done. Nice. He’s already chopped the toppings and cooked enough corn tortillas to feed everybody. Hopefully.

  “Lunch is ready!” Terra calls down the hall as he sets down the serving platter of taco meat. Ventus practically teleports into his chair, bouncing eagerly. Aqua, graceful as always, glides in and takes her seat. Terra looks at the doorways for Vanitas, but he doesn’t appear.

  “Where’s Vanitas?” He asks Ventus. Ventus winces.

  “He’s not up to walking right now,” Ventus replies. “I was gonna bring him a plate.”

  “But you’re already sitting down,” Aqua points out, arching a brow. Ventus blushes and starts to get up.

  “Nah, I got it,” Terra says. “Think he can manage two tacos?”

  “Yeah, he should be able to,” Ventus affirms.

  “Good,” Terra hums as he prepares two tacos on a plate, being generous with the meat and toppings. “I’ll be right back.”

  Terra grabs a bottle of apple soda on his way out of the dining room and makes his way to the room Vanitas has been staying in. Merlin has long since removed the hospital machinery (but  _ where  _ did he- no Terra don’t think about it), but they had all been warned against moving Vanitas around until he was more fully healed. Terra didn’t mind, too much. He knew that Vanitas wouldn’t try anything-

_ No, Terra,  _ Terra scolds himself as he stops outside Vanitas’ door.  _ You know better.  _

  “Vanitas?” Terra calls, knocking on the door. “May I come in?”

  There’s a grumble, then “Yeah, come in.” Terra opens the door and peeks inside. Vanitas is sitting on the bed, a round of solitaire spread on his lap. He’s giving Terra a wary look, as if Terra is going to attack him.

  The thought breaks Terra’s heart as he’s forced to confront the consequences of his avoidance.

  “I brought you lunch!” Terra says, forcing himself to be cheerful as he smiles. “Hope you like pork tacos.”

  “...sure,” Vanitas rasps, a crease appearing between his brows. 

  “I also got some apple soda,” Terra continues, placing the plate and bottle on the small table close to Vanitas’ bed.

  “Didn’t know there’s such thing as apple soda,” Vanitas remarks, eyeing the bottle like it might bite him. “...is it good?”   
  “Pretty good, yeah,” Terra confirms. “You need anything while I’m here?”   
  “...no,” Vanitas responds, giving Terra a confused, searching look. “...thank you.”

  “Not a problem,” Terra replies, giving Vanitas a gentle smile.  _ You’re safe here, dammit!  _ Terra’s heart cries.  _ Nobody’s going to hurt you! _

_...but,  _ Terra later realizes as he finishes putting away dishes from lunch.  _ But Vanitas doesn’t  _ know  _ that. He’s by himself, right now. Hurt. His family is either far away for missions or on errands. To my knowledge, this hasn’t happened in a long time. If ever.  _

  Terra bites his lip, turning the thought over in his head. This is, presumably, the first time Vanitas has been in the Land of Departure without Comet, Lea, or Isa.

_ Without  _ any  _ backup,  _ a voice in the back of his head whispers.  _ He almost,  _ almost  _ trusts Ventus, but until now Aqua has been nothing but hostile, and you’ve been avoiding him as much as possible. Vanitas has every right to be afraid - there’s nobody he really  _ trusts  _ here. _

  That… that  _ hurts.  _ But it doesn’t make the truth any less horrible. Terra nods to himself, determination a familiar fire in his chest. He’ll do better about Vanitas, and  _ not  _ avoid him.

  Later, Terra wordlessly leaves a small plate of cookies on the small table by Vanitas’ bed. Ventus beams up at him. Vanitas still watches Terra from the corner of his eye, but he seems less wary.

_ Little victories,  _ Terra reminds himself.

 

  Comet returns just as Terra finishes setting dinner out.

  “Sorry I took so long,” Comet wheezes, just barely keeping from flopping on the chair. “Stuff just kept piling up.”

  “Not a problem,” Terra tells them firmly. “Now, eat. You’ve been running around all day!”

  “Don’t mind if I do,” Comet sighs happily, dishing up some mashed potatoes. “Vanitas, you want some potatoes?”

  Dinner is a quiet, but peaceful affair. Terra takes prides in his cooking, and a quiet, content table is one that is too busy enjoying the food. Comet reveals the cake they had brought from the Twilight Town Bistro with a flourish. Terra appreciatively examines the decorations and the piping. Very nice!

  Terra and Aqua clean up dinner while Ventus goes to grab a card game to play with Comet and Vanitas. Terra starts scrubbing dishes while Aqua dries and places on the rack to put up later.

  “So how did your day go?” Comet asks.

  Terra’s ears twitch slightly. While he isn’t up to full were potential, yet, his hearing is still pretty sharp. Aqua’s movements slow, giving away her own eavesdropping. They both listen keenly.

  “It was fine,” Vanitas mumbles distractedly, probably still fidgeting with a napkin.

  “Did you have fun?” Comet prompts.

  “Ventus and I played Yahtzee. I won a few times. We threw dice at each other.”

  “That sounds fun!” Comet chirps.

  “It was,” Vanitas agrees. There’s a pause. Terra strains to listen closer. “They… they even  _ fed  _ me,” Vanitas eventually continues.

  Terra pauses, sharing a concerned look with Aqua. Why… why does Vanitas sound so  _ confused? _

  “Well, I would sure hope so,” Comet says dryly, but Terra can almost  _ taste  _ their worry in their town of voice.

  “...but you weren’t there?” Vanitas says, now blatantly confused.

  “Vanitas,” Comet begins, voice soft, “good hosts feed their guests. Good  _ people  _ feed their guests. Terra, Aqua, and Ventus are good people. They wouldn’t let you go hungry.”

  “... _ oh,”  _ Vanitas murmurs, voice horribly quiet. “I… I thought they only fed me earlier because  _ you  _ were here.”

  Icy, prickling rage pours down Terra’s throat and blooms like frost in his belly. It curls around his shoulders and up his neck to grip his head. His teeth clench, and he can hear his jaw creak with tension. He carefully puts the plate he was holding down before he shatters it and braces his hands on the counter, letting his head down as he tries to  _ breathe.  _ He can see Aqua gripping the counter out of the corner of his eye, knuckles white with the strength of her grip, claws digging into the granite of the counter. He places his hand next to hers, an invitation. She takes it, and they grip each other’s hands as tightly as they can, drawing strength from one other.

_ Watchful stars above,  _ Terra prays.  _ He is just a cub. He is just a cub who thought the only reason we fed him was because Comet was there to witness. As if he doesn’t deserve food and a place to rest. Give me the strength to not march into the afterlife and tear  _ **_FUCKING XEHANORT_ ** _ limb from  _ **_FUCKING_ ** _ limb. _

  Terra takes a deep breath and straightens, forcing the tension in his body to whoosh out in a great exhale. Aqua does the same. She gives his hand one last squeeze before releasing him and resuming what she was doing. They exchange a determined glance.

  They  _ will  _ do better with Vanitas. Both of them will.

  He deserves nothing less.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, terra, you fucked up, too. better pull up, son.  
> (don't worry terra recognizes that he done fucked up and he'll do better)


	4. Chair Derby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terra makes a step towards making friends with Vanitas via rolling chairs

  Terra steps into the hall-

  -and immediately throws himself back before he gets run over by two whooping and yelling blurs. There’s a familiar yelp (Ventus?) and Terra peeks his head back out just in time to witness Ven, who is on a rolling chair, trip over a crutch he was holding and sprawl on the tile. A short distance away, Vanitas, also on a rolling chair, uses his own crutch to brake and swerve around to face Ventus.

  “You okay?” Vanitas asks.

  “Yeah,” Ventus groans, sitting up on his elbows.

  Vanitas points and laughs at him.

  “What on  _ earth  _ are you two doing?” Terra asks, not bothering to smother his grin.

  Vanitas grins innocently as Ventus hauls himself upright.

  “Roller derby,” Vanitas says simply, teeth bared in a grin but eyes wary.

  “Using your crutches as weapons?” Terra asks, leaning against the wall and raising an eyebrow.

  “That was my idea!” Ventus speaks up, almost too quickly to be believable. Terra feels a brief spark of hurt, but shakes it off. Ventus is just trying to protect Vanitas, and it’s kind of Terra’s fault for avoiding Vanitas in the first place. Terra just grins.

  “Of course it was, you tiny goblin,” he laughs walking forward and hauling Ventus to his feet. “But you two aren’t going near fast enough to have a proper derby. I can help with that.”

  Ventus grins up at him. Vanitas only raises an eyebrow.

  Vanitas is much less reserved when Terra shoves him and Ventus down the hall with a mighty push, sending them shooting down the hall at much greater speeds than before. Vanitas whoops as he spins wildly around, not even bothering to whack at Ventus.

  Ventus falls over again, to his consternation and Vanitas and Terra’s amusement.

 

  Thirty minutes later, Terra is launching himself down the hall on his own rolling chair, Ventus and Vanitas on either side of him. Vanitas has started giggling breathlessly as he uses his crutch to propel himself forward. Ventus yells wordlessly, torso flat on top of his chair as he uses his legs to rapidly roll forward, almost running down the hall. The three boys lunge forward as quickly as they can to the designated finish line.

  Terra reaches forward and smacks his hand on the windowsill.

  “First!” He crows.

  “Second!” Vanitas cries, shoulder hitting the windowsill.

  “Thirrrrd!” Ventus gasps, weakly slapping his own hand down. “Is this my punishment for skipping leg day?”

  “You skip leg day?!” Vanitas gasps, hand on his chest. “The horror!”

  “I try to tell him,” Terra mourns, shaking his head. “I tell him to never skip leg day and he just ignores me! I’m not appreciated, Van.”

  “You’re really not,” Vanitas simpers, hesitating briefly before patting Terra’s shoulder.

  “And  _ what  _ do you three think you’re doing?”

_ Busteeeeed,  _ Terra hisses to himself as he and the boys sheepishly look towards a doorway. Aqua stands there, arms crossed and giving them a stern look, Behind Terra, Vanitas tenses. That won’t do at all.

  “Racing?” Terra pipes up, expression innocent.

  “...on rolling chairs?” Aqua prompts, shifting her weight to one now scarred leg and raising an eyebrow.

  “What else would we race on?” Ventus points out. “You should join us!”

  “I don’t think she wants to,” Vanitas murmurs quietly.

_ I don’t think she wants to be near me,  _ Terra finishes in his head. He gives Aqua a pointed look. She better not forget their unspoken promise.

  “Yeah, Aqua knows she can never beat us in races,” Terra speaks up casually, playfully arrogant. Vanitas and Ventus “ooooo” at the challenge. Aqua narrows her eyes, nostrils flaring in a dramatic showing of how not-irritated she is.

  “Oh  _ really  _ now?” Aqua growls. Terra just grins.

  A short time later, all four of them are braced on the wall, arranged on their own rolling chairs. Terra has both feet braced on the wall, back facing forward. Vanitas has his crutches braced on either side of his chair. Ventus, stomach flat on the chair, has his hands on the floor and one leg braced on the wall. Aqua copies Terra’s pose, a clear challenge specifically to him.

  “On three,” Ventus says. “One, two,  _ three!” _

  They launch themselves forward. Terra and Aqua powerfully push off the wall, Ventus scrambles forward, and Vanitas propels himself with his crutches. Aqua knocks herself into Terra, sending them spinning off of each other. Vanitas pulls ahead, using his foot for extra leverage. Ventus also uses the distraction to yank himself forward on a pillar. Now the boys are in the lead!

  “Cheater!” Terra accuses, throwing himself back at a smirking Aqua. She laughs and throws herself backward, rolling just out of reach of Terra. She speeds down the hall, wiggling her fingers at Terra in farewell as she catches up to the boys.

  This is, of course, when Comet walks through the door.

  “OH SHIT, LOOK-!” Vanitas yells, but it’s too late.

  Ventus crashes into Comet at full speed, sending them both tumbling to the floor. Vanitas lashes out with a crutch, managing to jank out of the way just in time. Aqua, unfortunately, isn’t able to stop in time and falls ass over teakettle onto the pile. Terra skids to a stop and leaps out of his chair, jogging over to the groaning pile. 

  “Everybody alright?” Terra asks.

  “Peachy,” Comet groans. Terra helps them all up, Comet accepting his hand with a wry grin. They wave off Aqua’s embarrassed apologies and calm Ventus down by placing a hand on his head.

  “Nice wipeout, dingus,” Vanitas teases Ventus once it’s clear that Comet is okay. Ventus sticks his tongue out at his darker half.

  “So what’re y’all doing?” Comet asks.

  They all grin at them.

 

  Comet wins all the races, but that’s obviously because they cheated with their lightning. Not that Terra would ever cheat with his own magic. Obviously not.

  Shut up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen you can’t leave Vanitas and Ventus alone and unsupervised for more than three seconds okay


	5. Visiting Hours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One by one, Comet’s family comes to check on them and Vanitas

_   Aerith _

 There’s a knock at the door.

  “Come in!” R-  _ Comet  _ calls out, placing their card on the surface of the bed between them, Ventus, and Vanitas. Vanitas scowls darkly at the card and reluctantly draws four cards from the draw pile. Why the fuck did he agree to play Uno with Comet?! They play  _ dirty _ . Ventus whimpers in sympathy and slight fear next to him on the bed, curled as close as possible without being able to cheat. 

  The door opens and a lady, holding a small basket, comes in. The first thing Vanitas notices is how  _ soft  _ she is. Not soft as in weak, no. Just… gentle. Her green eyes are kind, framed by long brown bangs. Comet lights up when they see her.

  “Aerith!” They cry, carefully placing their cards face down (dammit) and leaping to their feet to embrace the visitor. The lady, who is apparently Aerith (where had he heard that name before?), readily returns the hug with a small but delighted smile, humming slightly. They rock side to side before releasing each other.

  “It’s good to see you, sis,” Comet says quietly.

  Vanitas exchanges a startled glance with Ventus. Comet has a sister? Since when?

  “What’re you doing here?” Comet asks as they lead Aerith to a seat next to the bed. 

  “I wanted to see how you and Vanitas were doing,” Aerith says, sitting down gracefully, setting the basket down in her lap. “How are you, Vanitas?”

  “...’m okay,” Vanitas mumbles, eyeing Aerith carefully. She doesn’t  _ seem  _ hostile. And if she’s Comet’s sister she couldn’t be too bad. Hopefully. “Thank you,” he says, belatedly remembering his manners.

  “I’m glad you’re doing better,” Aerith says earnestly, and something eases in Vanitas’ chest. She’s  _ genuine.  _ “Comet has told me a lot about you.”

  “None of it is true,” Vanitas instinctively retorts. Aerith laughs, bright and happy.

  “Only good things, I promise!” She giggles. 

  “Yeah, I  _ totally  _ didn’t tell her about the time you-” Comet begins, but is swiftly stopped by Ventus throwing a pillow at them. Clearly, Ventus is the real MVP here. Comet cackles and throws the pillow back at Ventus. Ventus launches himself at Comet, dragging them down to the floor for a good wrestle. Vanitas rolls his eyes and turns his attention to the basket.

  “What’s in there?” He asks.

  Aerith beams at him and removes the lid and cloth covering the inside.

  “I wasn’t sure what you liked,” she explains, “but I asked Comet and they said you enjoyed bitter and sour things.”

  Inside the basket is an array of homemade treats. A few yellowish mini-pie looking things, a bag of what is clearly candied limes, a jar of small, dark brown chunks, and another jar of what can only be whole pickles.

  “What are these?” Vanitas asks, pointing at the yellow pie things.

  “These are lemon tarts,” Aerith explains. “I tend to like mine a little more, well, tart than everybody else, so I’m sure you’ll enjoy them. And these are dark chocolate cookies. I used the darkest chocolate I could find without grinding my own cacao beans. These are candied limes, and those are some of my own homemade pickles. You’ll be a bit of a guinea pig for me - I haven’t tried them myself, yet.” 

  “And… this is all for me?” Vanitas whispers, struggling with the concept. Why… why would she bring all this for him? He’s never even met her before. He lifts his head to look into her eyes. “Why?”

  Aerith’s gaze goes dim, and sad, and aching in a way Comet looks like, sometimes.

  “I was one of the healers who worked on you,” Aerith confesses. “I may have a talent for healing, but I have never worked on somebody so… so  _ young  _ before.” She blinks rapidly, eyes suspiciously shiny. “And then suddenly I see my sibling, one who I haven’t seen face to face in almost three years, and the life that had almost slipped away from under my hands is somebody my sibling loves  _ very  _ much.”

  Vanitas grips the blanket beneath him, blinking back heat and swallowing a sudden lump in his throat. A pale, gentle hand carefully touches his, and Vanitas refocuses on Aerith. She gives him a kind smile.

  “You are  _ family,  _ Vanitas,” she tells him, voice quiet. “I am  _ so very glad  _ that you’re doing better, that you’re healing. And I am so glad to meet you.”

  “Yeah,” Vanitas rasps, scrubbing his eyes with the back of his fist. “I’m… nice to meet you, too.”

  Aerith gently pats squeezes his hand before withdrawing, giving him the space to gather himself. Vanitas sniffs, scrubbing his face, then grabs the jar of pickles.

  “Welp,” he grunts as he manages to pop the lid off with a firm twist. “These pickles aren’t gonna try themselves. Want one?”

 

_   Yuffie _

 

  The door is kicked open with a loud  _ bang!  _ Vanitas jerks awake, heart racing, and subconsciously clutches Comet, who was napping next to him. Comet mutters something like “sweet God no” and reluctantly uncurls to look at the intruder.

__ “COMET!” A stranger shouts, tromping in and pulling some sort of ridiculous pose, hands on her hips and legs bent in an extended lunge. “YOUR FAVORITE SISTER IS  _ HERE!” _

  “But Aerith was here a week ago,” Comet drawls.

  The stranger wails dramatically and drops to the floor, rolling and moaning about “terrible traitor siblings who don’t love meee.” Vanitas hides his face in Comet’s side to muffle his snickering. Judging by their minute trembling, they’re  _ also  _ suppressing their giggles.

  “Oh, get up, Yuffie,” Comet eventually scolds. “You’re making a fool of yourself.”

  “Ex _ cuse  _ you,” the now identified Yuffie huffs, hopping to her feet. “I am the  _ paragon  _ of grace and dignity.”

  “Doesn’t that mean you don’t have any?” Vanitas snipes. 

  “HA!” Comet barks. “Good one!”

  “You!” Yuffie cries, pointing a finger at Vanitas. Vanitas feels his lips curl into a “who, me?” smirk. “I like you!” Yuffie tells him. “We’re gonna be best friends.”

  “That sounds horrible,” Vanitas drawls. “Can I regift you to somebody else?”

  Comet wheezes, giving up on suppressing their giggles as they throw their head back and  _ cackle.  _ Yuffie squawks and stomps her feet childishly, but nonetheless grins widely at him. Vanitas grins back, surprisingly pleased at how easy it is to banter with this girl.

  “So!” Yuffie says as she smoothly hops onto the foot of the bed. “You’re Vanitas, yeah?”

  “The one and only,” Vanitas confirms.

  “Great! I’m Yuffie, in case you didn’t catch on,” Yuffie continues, holding out her hand for a handshake. “But you can call me ‘Auntie’.”

  “I think I’ll stick with calling you ‘Yuffie’,” Vanitas quips, shaking Yuffie’s hand. He ignores the tremulous feeling of  _ familyfamilyfamily  _ that grips his heart. He tries not to read too much into it.  _ (tries not to hope desperately for something that isn’t his to hope for) _

__ “So! Now that introductions are out of the way and I’ve reassured myself with my own two eyes that you guys are okay,” Yuffie rambles as she digs into her pack, “how about a game of  _ Tsuro? _ ”

  They play like thirty rounds of the path-making game, Yuffie screeching dramatically whenever her piece is forced off the board. Vanitas cackles and sabotages Yuffie the next round. It dissolves into constant sabotaging and mutually-assured destruction while Comet calmly stays alive in their own corner of the board.

  Yuffie stays for a few hours, and they play more games, Vanitas doing his goblin best to sabotage Yuffie as she does her own gremlin deeds against him. Eventually, though, Yuffie has to leave for dinner at home. She kisses Comet’s cheek, ruffles Vanitas’ hair, and bounces out the door with a promise to return soon, with more games to kick his ass at. Vanitas cheerfully flips her off, cackling when Comet smacks his hand down and scolds him for being a little shit.

 

_ Squall _

 

__ A man appears in the open doorway to Vanitas’ room. Vanitas stares at him blankly. The man silently stares back, unblinking. There’s a scar that cuts diagonally across his face, framed by choppy brown hair. Deep blue eyes regard Vanitas critically.

  Who the  _ fuck  _ is this?

_ BRZAP! _

__ The man jumps with an undignified yelp. His fur collar and some of his hair lifts in a clear sign of static electricity. Vanitas relaxes minutely. He can see Comet standing behind the man.

  “Way to be a creep, Squall,” Comet teases, gently shoving the man forward.

  “It’s  _ Leon, _ ” the man, Squall (or is it Leon?) insists, edging away from Comet.

  “Sure,” Comet snorts. “Come to check on me and Vanitas?”

  Squall hitches a shoulder up and looks away, leaning against the wall. Or tries to. Comet nudges him away from the wall and towards a chair, making him sit down.

  “Nope, no brooding, bro,” Comet chides, sitting on a different chair. “Come sit down and at least attempt to visit with us.”

  “Are there any more secret siblings?” Vanitas asks, crossing his arms and ignoring the twinge in his back. “You got a fuckin’ closet of siblings?”

  “There’s at least eight more,” Comet drawls. Vanitas squints at them.

  “You got rid of most of them,” Squall interjects. “They couldn’t handle you.”

  “You sure it wasn’t Yuffie?” Comet cracks. “Pretty sure I’m innocent, here.”

  Squall huffs through his nose, expression relaxing. The corners of his mouth lift slightly. He nudges Comet’s ankle with his foot. Comet smiles at him, nudging back.

  “Missed you, too, Squall,” Comet says, then turns to Vanitas. “More seriously this time, no, I don’t have any more siblings. Leon’s the last one.”

  Squall grunts and firmly nudges Comet’s chair.

  “Hey, I’m not blaming you!” Comet defends, kicking back. “You were very busy being all leaderly ‘n’ stuff. Very important job.”

  Squall huffs and crosses his arms, deliberately closing his eyes. Comet nudges his chair once more. Again. And again. And again. Vanitas snickers, watching as a line appears between Squall’s brows.

  “Hey, Squall,” Comet says. “Squall. Squall. Bro. Buddy. Pal. Squall.”

  “What,” Squall grunts, one eye cracking open.

  “You wanna play Pictionary with me and Van?” Comet asks, grinning.

  “As long as there’s no magnetic dice,” Squall allows. “You cheat.”

  “I  _ knew it!”  _ Vanitas can’t help but crow. “I  _ knew  _ you cheated!”

  Squall arches an eyebrow at him. Comet blows a raspberry at Vanitas as they get up to go find the Pictionary set. Vanitas flushes, embarrassed at being so exuberant around a stranger.

  “They cheat at Uno,” Vanitas explains huffily.

  “Comet cheats at everything,” Squall hums, bringing out a few pencils from his inventory. They’re all a different color. Squall holds the bundle out to Vanitas, silently offering. Vanitas looks at the pencils, then looks up into Squall’s face. Sensing no hostility or aggression, Vanitas reaches out and grabs the bright lavender pencil. Squall selects a hot magenta for his own pencil. Comet, when they return, immediately picks out the goldenrod yellow pencil. Ventus follows them in, carrying the Pictionary board, and picks out a periwinkle pencil. 

  Ventus nabs Comet as his teammate, which leaves Vanitas and Squall as the other team. As the game progresses, Vanitas finds that he  _ likes  _ Squall. The taciturn man doesn’t flail around or blurt random guesses - he calmly waits until Vanitas is almost done drawing before making his guesses. Vanitas returns the favor and waits until Squall looks up at him before making his own guesses. Although, some of Squall’s guesses get both of them snickering.

  Vanitas does his best to recreate “bear with a sore head” from his card. Squall takes a long look at the finished doodle.

  “Comet before their morning caffeine,” he says. Vanitas snorts, dipping his head to muffle giggles into his shoulder. 

  “Yuffie,” is his answer for “devil”. 

  “We’re gonna need a bigger boat,” he quips at Vanitas’ sad-looking shark.

  “Fucker,” he snorts at a goofy-looking Heartless doodle.

  “Donald Dick” at a duck gets Comet to snort juice out of their nose.

  They get through two rounds before Vanitas’ energy flags. Ventus helps Comet clean up the chaos, promising to return with a plate of dinner. They leave Vanitas and Squall in the room alone. 

  Squall gazes carefully at Vanitas. Vanitas stares back, unthreatened.

  “You make Comet very happy,” Squall tells Vanitas, voice low. “Try to stay alive.” 

  He reaches out and gently ruffles Vanitas’ hair, mouth quirking into a smirk.

  “I’ll see you soon,” Squall says, and walks out without another word.

  Weird guy.

 

_ Cid _

 

  Comet is helping Vanitas get back into the bed (despite his insistence that he can do it himself, Comet, really) when Squall opens the door.

  “Get in there,” he grunts, shoving somebody else in.

  Comet freezes, which makes Vanitas tense up. Why are they tense who is this person is this an attack  _ who are they- _

  “Cid,” Comet says, voice wobbly.

  “Hey, kid,” the other man, stout and blond with a five o’clock shadow, huffs, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Squall firmly closes the door behind him and leans against it. Comet makes a choked noise and releases Vanitas to rush at the older man, burying their face into his shoulder and clutching his shirt. Cid sighs, a rumbly raspy sound, and wraps his arms around their shoulders, resting his chin on top of their head and closing his eyes.

  After a moment, Comet pulls away, wiping their eyes.

  “You okay,” Cid asks gruffly, not looking Comet in the face.

  “Yea, ‘m fine,” Comet sniffs. “What’re you doing here?”

  “I dragged him here,” Squall says.

  “Asshole stood around and stared at me until I got in the ship,” Cid growls. Squall just blinks at him in response.

  “Well, I’m glad he did,” Comet laughs.

  “Can’t stay long,” Cid continues. “Can’t leave Tron alone for more than five minutes, but I can at least meet your boy.”

  “The boy is right here,” Vanitas finally snipes. “Hi, stranger who is apparently Cid, how’re you?”

  “Well, you’ve definitely got a mouth on ya,” Cid rumbles, eyeing Vanitas up and down. Vanitas straightens and looks Cid in the eyes defiantly. Fight him, you old fart. Cid snorts and looks away.

  “Well, since both of you are at least on the mend I’ll just head out,” Cid grumbles. “Move your ass, Squall.” 

  Squall raises an eyebrow but obligingly moves, opening the door and half-bowing sarcastically. Cid snarls at him and stomps out the door. Squall rolls his eyes at Comet, who giggles.

  “Yeah, I can’t believe him either,” Comet murmurs. “Thanks for guilting him to come visit, Squall.”

  “Not a problem,” Squall rumbles. He flicks a hand sign at them before turning to leave.

  “Love you, too!” Comet hollers after him.

  “Well, that was weird,” Vanitas quips, leaning back on his pillows. “So do I get bingo? That was all of your family, right?”

  “Pretty much, yeah,” Comet confirms.

  “Explains a lot about you - they’re weird.”

  “Y’know,” Comet hums, “I can’t deny that.”

  “I like ‘em,” Vanitas declares. “Unfortunately”

  “Shut uuup!” Comet laughs and gently shoves his head. “We’ve just grown on you. Like a fungus.”

  “Grooooss,” Vanitas makes a face, smacking at Comet’s hand. He doesn’t admit that he likes knowing Comet’s family, likes knowing where they came from and who they are.  _ (doesn’t even acknowledge the hope of calling them his own family) _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m exhausted just have this. Have some familial bonding. Just take it.


End file.
